The 2010 crude oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was a human and environmental disaster of epic proportions. It was the largest oil spill in history. From its beginning on Apr. 20, 2010 with the deadly explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig to Jul. 15, 2010 when the gushing well was effectively capped, the spill resulted in an estimated release of nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil that caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats as well as the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries.
Several futile attempts were made to control the relentless flow of oil from the gushing undersea well which was located some 5000 feet beneath the water surface. These included remote underwater vehicles which failed to close blowout preventer valves on the damaged well head, a 140 ton containment dome, and pumping heavy drilling fluids into the well head. As noted, the well was capped in July and, from early August through September 2010, the well was permanently sealed with cement.
Ancillary to the human, environmental and tourism losses related to the disaster, but nonetheless highly economically significant, was the permanent encasement of crude oil and natural gas that might otherwise have been recovered from the sealed well had it performed as designed throughout its expected service life. To date, it is believed there is no known rapidly deployable system for effectively capping a gushing deep-sea oil well, let alone one which enables the damaged well to remain functional, if desired, after capping.